Anyone who has visited Pasquale’s Pizza over the past 36 years has likely seen either Phillip or Donna Nunnelley waiting at the counter when they walk in the door, and their commitment to the restaurant has kept it open through good times and bad.

Cullman’s Pasquale’s first opened in 1968, making this year the restaurant’s 50th anniversary, and its owners are planning a celebration to thank the area’s residents for their support over the years. 

“It’s just a good feeling to know that our blood, sweat and tears and stubbornness has kept us here this long,” Donna Nunnelley said. “It feels good to know that we have been able to stand the test of time.”

The restaurant’s pizza, spaghetti and other Italian dishes are well-known in the area, and its buffet, which is open for lunch every day and for dinner on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, is one of the most popular in Cullman.

The roast beef, Stromboli steak and hoagie are probably the restaurant’s three most popular sandwiches, and there are always people coming in from Georgia or Mississippi or other places to buy them, Nunnelley said. 

“People come in and tell me, ‘Cullman wouldn’t be the same without Pasquale’s. It’s a landmark,’” she said. “The business has been great for us, great to us,” she said.

The running of the restaurant has not been without its struggles, as the economy’s downturn led to several lean years in which it was hard to find good help, and new competition has also been constant in the city as restaurants continue to open in Cullman, but Pasquale’s has outlasted many of those new places and is still popular with residents, Nunnelley said. 

“We’ve done something right,” she said. “We still have good food and we still have good service.”

Good help can be hard to find, but Nunnelley singled out one long-time employee Joan Perkins, who has worked at Pasquale’s for more than 30 years and has played a large part in the restaurant’s success. 

“If it hadn’t been for her, we probably wouldn’t have made it this long,” she said. “She’s really been a great, great employee for us, and she’s more like family than she is an employee.”

Nunnelley said Pasquale’s will be closing for a short time in June, giving its owners a much-needed vacation. 

“We haven’t closed for vacation since my son was about 3,” she said. “He’s 19 now.”

Along with a vacation for its owners, Pasquale’s will also receive a mini facelift in June, with a deep cleaning, new paint and equipment repair to make everything look fresher, Nunnelley said.

When the restaurant reopens in July, there will be some kind of customer appreciation celebration to thank the community for 50 years of support, she said. 

“It’s just to let our customers know that we do appreciate them,” she said. “And we appreciate their support over the years.”

After 36 years of owning Pasquale’s and outlasting their competition and an economic downturn, Nunnelley said she and her husband are beginning to take a look at their future at the restaurant.

“It’s just been a blessing, and know that God has a plan for us,” she said. “I don’t know exactly what it is, but I know it’s getting close to time to call it a day.”

She said they don’t have any definite plans right now, but they would like to both be able to attend their son’s football games and would like to spend more time away from work.

“We are getting to point where we’re getting closer to retirement,” Nunnelley said. “My dream is that another good Cullman family will come in and take us over and keep it running for another 30, 40, 50 years.”